19 April 2015

Kuala Lumpur: Asia's 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup hopefuls learned their fate on Tuesday when the draw for the second round draw of continental joint qualifiers was held in the Malaysian capital.

Some 40 sides were placed in eight groups of five teams each for the FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

The teams will compete according to a double round robin format, and the Round 2 qualification matches will be held from June 11, 2015 to March 29, 2016.

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup finals.